Dr Kim Chilman Blair and
Dr Kate Hersov are co-founders of Medikidz, a company which provides medical
information to young people through a series of comic books.

Since launching in
2009, Medikidz has created over 48 titles, including Type 1 Diabetes, Epilepsy,
Autism and Depression. With books now being distributed worldwide in 25
different languages, and 2 new titles being produced every month, Drs Kim and
Kate look set to change the way young patients receive information and support
about their medical conditions.

Dr Kim Chilman-Blair (pictured right), CEO and Founder, came up with the idea for
Medikidz after working in paediatrics for a number of years and finding herself
frustrated at the lack of medical resources accessible to children. With all
the available material directed towards parents, she decided to create a
product that would help young patients understand what was going on inside
their bodies, and lessen the fear that came with a diagnosis. While studying
for a Masters in Entrepreneurship at the University of Otago and working full
time as a paediatrician, Kim started writing the stories that would eventually
become the world’s first series of medical information comics for young people.
After winning a $20,000 entrepreneurship challenge, and
finding unprecedented level of support and enthusiasm coming from Europe and
the US, she moved over to England with her colleague Dr Kate Hersov to
fully establish the company as an international
business.

Dr Kate Hersov (pictured left), Deputy CEO and Co-Founder, met Kim at
medical school and shared her frustration with finding accessible medical
information for young patients. Dr. Kim Chilman-Blair and Dr Kate Hersov’s
combined research highlighted the lack of information for children abroad, as
well as in New Zealand. With a massive gap in the market waiting to be filled,
both Dr Kate and Dr Kim gave up their full-time careers as doctors to focus
solely on developing their medical comic book series and social networking website
where children could connect and speak to each other about their experiences
with various medical conditions.

How did you come up with the idea for Medikidz and
then arrive at the decision to turn your idea into a reality?

KCB & KH: After
working in paediatrics, we became frustrated by the lack of engaging education for our young patients. During our time
as doctors, we were unable to provide children with resources to help educate
them about their new diagnoses or medicines - in their language, at their
level. There exists worldwide, an enormous lack of useful
material for young people around medicine and health - most of what exists
targets parents only! This realisation was the catalyst that led us to
found Medikidz. Medikidz is now the world’s first medical education company for
children. The Medikidz mission is to improve the quality of life of young
people, and empower them with knowledge of what is happening within their (or
their loved ones) bodies.

TNW: Who were your first customers and how hard was it
to attract them?

KCB & KH: Our
first customer was a schools and library publisher from America. It wasn’t hard
to attract them to the idea, as it was something no one had done before and the
gap in the market was obvious to see. It was hard to sell them the idea though as
at that stage, without any finished product, we were only selling a concept.

TNW: What is next for your company?

KCB & KH: At
the moment we have 48 published titles, with 15 new titles currently in
production. We have over 300 titles we are looking to develop and are already
present in 40 different countries around the world, in 25 different languages. We
have also created a series of titles relating to adult conditions, so that a
parent / loved one, when faced with a diagnosis, has somewhere to turn to help
them explain it to their children.

Our 'What's up with Mum? Medikidz Explain
Breast Cancer' has had incredible response and endorsement from the American
Cancer Society, as well as incredible coverage on Sky News (click here to view).

We will be expanding upon this series as
well, to include titles on Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis and
Lung, Bowel and Prostate Cancer.

Further global
expansion is on the cards including growth into further Asian markets such as
China and the opening of a USA office later this year. Our strategy for 2012 is
very much digital-focused, with the re-launch of Medikidz.com; an online
'Medipaedia' with entries about conditions, investigations and medicines with
an integrated fully-moderated social network for children globally to connect
around illness and disease.

The Medikidz
Foundation is set to officially launch later this year. The Medikidz Foundation
is the charity arm of Medikidz Ltd. The overall aim of the Foundation is to
help children in developing countries gain useful medical knowledge and access
to vital supplies. We established the Foundation in order to redress the
paucity of even the most basic medical information in developing countries
across Africa, Asia, and other less fortunate parts of the world. As per the
social mission of Medikidz Ltd, the Foundation believes that the improvement of
the quality of and access to medical information can make a huge difference to
children all over the world, whether they are affected directly or indirectly
by health conditions.

Another big
coup is recently being appointed to run a UK-wide health initiative with the
government – to ‘get 1 million kids physically active’!

TNW: Do you have any tips or any advice for women who
are thinking about becoming entrepreneurs?

KCB & KH: Planning
is everything. Take risks - without risk there is no reward. Don’t be afraid to
ask (for money, advice, introductions, anything!). Starting and running a
business is tremendous hard work, riddled with frustrations, setbacks and
complications, be ready for this rollercoaster and be determined to succeed. Most
importantly, be passionate!

TNW: What does your day look like?

KCB & KH: Every
day is different. Each day the team is speaking to, and working in
collaboration with, people across the globe, from Europe to Australasia, from CEOs
of the multinational healthcare companies to the world’s leading specialist
paediatricians, from marvel comics book writers to groups of children affected
by illness, to printers, publishers and graphic artists. It is so exciting to
get up in the morning and know something new is likely to happen that we don’t
have planned in our diaries. A great example of this is today when we had a
call from Reebok UK Director to meet as a potential partner for the UK wide
initiative ‘to get one million kids physically active’. They rang late morning
and we’re off to meet with them this afternoon!

It is also
about keeping up with our advisory boards. Medikidz has established a Medical
Advisory Board, consisting of dozens of the world's preeminent physicians, as
well as a Youth Advisory Board, a group of young people aged 6-16 years old,
affected by illness, whose voice and opinion help to shape the direction of
Medikidz!

TNW: What has been your biggest challenge throughout
the history of your company, from planning to funding and execution, and how
could others learn from it?

KCB & KH: Making
the shift from being medical doctors to entrepreneurs was a challenge.

TNW: Do you believe it is better to find customers
then funding or vice versa?

KCB & KH: It
is probably easier to convince investors to take a risk on you if you can prove
the business model by showing customer traction and revenue; it may mean you
can increase the equity value too.

TNW: What is one leadership lesson you learned the
hard way, but wish someone had told you at the beginning?

Hire
people with the right attitude. Make
sure you recruit star performers who have tremendous skills but also the right
attitude – attitude is what makes employees give 100% effort.

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The NextWomen is a community of Investors, Entrepreneurs & Advisers. We build formats to support the growth of female entrepreneurs -from
startups to companies making millions. We provide access to capital, resources and networks,
offering our community a support infrastructure critical for success. Join the community too! - See more at: http://www.thenextwomen.com/about-us/contributors#sthash.9GODHllB.dpuf

The NextWomen is a community of Investors, Entrepreneurs & Advisers. We build formats to support the growth of female entrepreneurs -from
startups to companies making millions. We provide access to capital, resources and networks,
offering our community a support infrastructure critical for success. Join the community too! - See more at: http://www.thenextwomen.com/membership/sign-up#sthash.0ApND3BW.dpuf

The NextWomen is
a community of Investors, Entrepreneurs & Advisers. We
build formats to support the growth of female entrepreneurs -from startups to
companies making millions. We provide access to capital, resources and
networks, offering our community a support infrastructure critical for success.